Teacher, two others, arrested in connection to sale and/or possession of meth

Friday

Feb 23, 2018 at 4:36 PMFeb 23, 2018 at 7:45 PM

Austin L. Miller @almillerosb

An elementary school teacher, her boyfriend and a friend were arrested early Friday by members of the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team and charged with drug possession.

Armed with a search warrant, UDEST agents and members of the Ocala Police Department SWAT Team went to 714 SE 10th St., where officials said, an ongoing investigation had revealed that methamphetamine was being sold.

Recovered from the home and property were a loaded AR-15 and a Glock .45-caliber pistol, a shotgun, a significant amount of ammunition, meth, marijuana, a digital scale, drug paraphernalia and $1,013 in cash. A 2006 Chrysler 300 and a 2003 Dodge Ram truck also were seized.

Taken into custody were Justin Pintor, 32, his girlfriend and teacher Samantha Schrader, 30, and friend Brandilynn L. Dunston, 31.

Agents said they received information last month that crystal meth was being sold from the home. They began an investigation, which included drugs being purchased from the home, including from Schrader. Agents said they purchased a total of 49 grams of meth at the home. They obtained the search warrant and arrested all three occupants at 6 a.m. Friday.

Pintor, a convicted felon, face several charges, including two counts of trafficking meth, sale and possession of meth and possession of marijuana less than 20 grams.

Schrader was charged with sale and possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Dunston was charged with possession of meth and possession of marijuana less than 20 grams.

Drug officials said Schrader owns the home.

Dunston does not have a local criminal record. Pintor was released from prison in February 2015 for felony driving while license is suspended or revoked.

Schrader was stopped in April 2017 by an Ocala Police Department officer for driving erratically. Blood alcohol breath tests registered .144 and .155. The state legal limit at which someone is presumed to be intoxicated is .08. The officer arrested her for DUI. Court records show she was adjudicated guilty and her driver’s license was suspended for six months and she had to pay fines and court costs.

Marion County Public Schools spokesman Kevin Christian said Schrader was hired by the district in August 2015 and is a teacher at Greenway Elementary. She began her career as a fourth-grade teacher and at the time of her arrest was a second-grade teacher. He said she was suspended for five days in 2017 for not notifying school officials that a student had a BB gun.

Christian said she will be placed on paid leave while her case is ongoing. If prosecutors decide to move forward with the charges, she could be placed on unpaid leave during a future board meeting. For now, she cannot be on the school campus and will have no contact with students.